Just a Shadow
by Dailix
Summary: [Reader X Demyx] You were sinking back into his arms as he held you for the first and last time... [Character Death] Can be considered to be for both sexes...if you look at it that way. [Angsty OneShot]


**Just a Shadow**

Author's Notes:

This is a short One-Shot based on a VERY interesting dream I had the other night...  
Just so you know, no, I'm not an Axel basher. I :heart: him, he's just so hot when he's ebil. :)  
Oh, and if you find mistakes, please notify me. I hate ff dotnet's formatting...-.-

Just a Shadow  
- by :**D**aili**x**:

You were standing in an odd sort of place. You weren't exactly sure why you'd been sent there, only that you'd obviously done something wrong. Xemnas, the leader of the Organization, had ordered that you, as well as the rest of your new comrades, report to this musty, dank chamber immediately. And so, there you were. You were a very obedient wretch, though a paranoid one. The men covered in white, their robes contrasting to your own black one, that had led you to this strange place, seemed to pity you, obviously knowing of what was to come.

You of course, were oblivious.  
But couldn't be blamed.

The small slit in the wall where you were now standing was almost like-  
Dare you think it-

A coffin. A steely, ice-cold, oversized coffin.

You were nervous. _Very_ nervous. Only your...what, fifth day? actually on the job and you'd already screwed everything up, according to your logic.  
You tried not to ponder about the things they would do to you as punishment.

You had just started to think about how long you'd been standing there in that small confined area as the red-headed pyromaniac, standing two away from yours, was taken by the men in white, his eyes almost averting you. You tried to grab his attention as he came nearer, but he, clearly pretending to be distracted, turned away, still following the men like the ones before him.

You were almost hurt. Here you were, nervous as could be and this bastard, the only one that had accepted you as one of the group at first, was ignoring you. And you had finally found an okay friend in this hell-hole of a world.

Of course...  
Things had gone downhill about a week ago.

The day you'd ruined everything.

** Flashback **

You gripped your swords anxiously.

You had concluded that this fight had lasted long enough now awhile ago, but the young boy with the blade just refused to give up. You now stood towering over his fallen form, one of the blades at his throat. He was shaking slightly, but not from fear. He was most defiantly not afraid.

He was just downright pissed.

His young friend, the boy with the blue hair, lay a couple of yards away, his pretty face marred with the scars of the previous battles they'd endured.

You were their last fight-  
Before the boss.

And you didn't plan for them to get away.

But, as you peered down at his form, you were suddenly hit very hard across the face by something rather sharp, the impact sending you across floor.

You immediately snapped your head to the right, glaring at the boy's moronic friends as they found their way to your small arena. Blood, seeming to seep directly from your skull, dripped in front of your area of perspective, creating a red film on one side. Though you barely noticed the burn of it on your eye, seen as how you had been struck there earlier. It was still numb.

Growing frustrated, you quickly got on your feet and began circling the boy, snarling. As far as you were concerned, this battle had just begun.

** Flash-Forward **

You almost snorted at the thought. Not too much later, that annoying (but pretty faced) teen had awoken and struck you hard through the back, the front of his oddly shaped Keyblade slamming through your chest.

You had failed.

Moments later, you had ended up in the castle, where all nobodies went after having been defeated.

And the pyro hadn't spoken to you since.

You hadn't even noticed that you'd voiced the word "Jackass" until he was suddenly right in front of you, the men in white attempting to move him back, though failing. His eyes were burning in a way in which they'd never burnt before.

It was a very frightening image.

He brought his hand up to your face. You bit back a shiver as it moved to the back of your neck-

And tangled painfully in your hair, grabbing and pulling at as much as it could grasp.

You made a noise of pitiful discomfort. He'd never handled you like this before. The men had stopped their futile attempts, settling for just holding him for the moment.

Usually he'd been so gentle to you, always caring, never rough and unfeeling. He'd made you feel like you were loved for once, though you'd met just a few weeks prior to the current event.  
Now, though, he seemed amused by your pain.

"What was that, love?" he asked you, his eyes an emotionless void.

"Nothing," you quickly grit out, jaw clenched.

He smiled at you, a cold, cruel smile that you would have never expected from your potential 'lover'.

"Didn't think so." His grip didn't lessen as he leaned in close to your ear. "You know," he whispered, "you did this to me. That day. When you failed. You killed me."

Wondering what the hell he was talking about quickly left your thoughts as you suddenly found his mouth on yours.

You didn't respond as he pulled your head upwards. The kiss was cold and demanding, just as he eyes now were.

As he released you, you looked on as he was pulled away by the men once again, now looking as mad and crazed as ever.

"You promised me-! You told me my betrayal of the Organization for Roxas would be forgotten!" He continued as he turned a corner. "Well now he's gone! And you-you LIED, you fucking-!"

There was a loud thud as his voice was cut off in the middle of his terse ranting.

"Don't mind him."

You looked up to your left as the slightly taller water-user shook his head. "You shouldn't listen to what he says. He's an asshole."

Looking back down, your hands fidgeted as the man now stared at you, his gaze piercing through you, as though he could see into your clouded mind. You never liked being stared at, but kept quiet as he shifted.

You hadn't known this one as long or as well as you'd known the red-head, though he held a rather intriguing...something about him. You had always wondered about him, mostly about his obsession with water type things...

And his hair.

"This wasn't your fault, you know."

You looked up at him, his eyes catching yours. "This was bound to happen anyways."

Before you could stop yourself, you were compelled to ask,  
"What's going to happen to us?"

His expression immediately changed to one of pity, one that you didn't like at all. He stood there, silent for a moment, replying only after he was sure you'd looked away.  
"You mean you don't know?"

You shook your head. "What was...What was Axel saying? About me...killing him?"

He looked down at you again and fidgeted as he spoke. "W-well they...they're going to send us back."

You clearly held an expression that told him that you didn't understand.

He breathed out hard. "They're going to rejoin us with our...selves. Our other selves."

"...Oh."

...You really couldn't think of much else to say.

So...  
You were to be sent back, huh?  
To be the other part of the whole you'd broken when you escaped.

This was unnerving news.

"But...won't we still be...alive, then?"

The other looked at you with sad eyes. "Technically, no."

"But...it's not like we're going to die...we're just going to become part of our other self...so we are still alive."

He shook his head. "But our souls are lost, even if they are only half a soul. That's also why, when we do die, we still become apart of our others. Well, actually, we become our other selves. We have no thoughts or consciousness of our own after that. So, in a way...we do die, whether it's intentional or...not."

You grew anxious at that bit of information, your stomach churning it's meager contents.

...you weren't ready to die.

"I..." you tried to find something, anything to say. "I don't want t-to die yet..."

You felt a tingling sensation somewhere just above the back of your hairline. It took you a moment to realize that it was the intriguing one's hand. He pulled you forward into a...hug?

Feeling awkward, you looked up at his face and felt an incredibly light hue of pink shading over your features.

He smiled.

"It'll be alright." he assured you letting you lean into his chest for a few minutes.

As you stood there, being held by this tall and, not to mention, incredibly handsome male, you found yourself wondering if it really would be alright.

Things seemed alright so far.  
That is...until they came for you.

"Miss?"

You hadn't even noticed that the other member next to you had been taken away, brought into the room to which you would be...well, God knows how it was done.

You return your frightened gaze to the man above you, and as he smiled, you suddenly felt as though you'd melt away on the spot.

"Go," he said, releasing his hold on you, "your other self is waiting."

As you turned to be brought away by the men in white, they gripped your arms lightly. With a final glance back, you followed them down the hallway.

i So this is where it ends/i you thought, lowering your head to the ground. _ I wonder what it's like...being dead. I guess I won't have to wait much longer to find out. _ You turned a corner. i I hope it isn't too painfu- 

You turned your head to the side as the men gripped you harder. _ Why is their hold so tight?_ You twist your neck to look behind you. _ And...wait, wasn't Axel taken down the other hallway?_

"What's going on?" you asked lightly, growing a little more anxious than before.  
"Aren't we supposed to go the other way?"

"We have specific orders from the leader," one of the men declared, his voice echoing off of the walls.  
The other continued for him as though they were connected by unseen wires, "to take you down to his chamber for...separate reasons."

You writhed against their hold a bit, uncomfortable from their hard grasp. "Could you loosen up a bit? You're kind of bruising me-"

It became clear that they would do no such thing.

As you rounded another corner, they brought you into another room, sitting you down on the small table.

You nearly stood up once they'd left the room, until a low laughter emitted from the wall behind you.

You'd know that laugh anywhere.

Xemnas, the bastard.

Xemnas was the only one out of the Organization whom you were afraid of. Everything about him was just sort of...creepy. His eyes, his hair, his face, his hands, his voice, his laughter..

Oh God, his laughter.  
That was what frightened you the most.

So there you stood, frozen as stone, afraid to move a muscle as the cold sound of his laughter filled the room. Your spine gave an unwanted shiver as he walked out from behind you and around to the other side of the table.

He leaned over, smiling his always dark smile.

"We meet again."

You weren't sure when it had happened, nor how, but as soon as you'd blinked once, he'd somehow gotten you under his grip, his hands at your throat, wringing the life out of you slowly. You choked and struggled, nails digging at his flesh trying to pry him off of you. He leaned in closely.

"You..." You wondered how one word could be filled with so much hatred. "You cost me everything I had. Kingdom Hearts was mine-!"

"K-kingdom...Hearts w-was never...yours..." you sputtered, mustering up all the courage you could to look him in the eye. "Y-you...bastard-"

He hands tightened around your throat, your eyes watering.

"Oh, it was. It was very much mine, until you failed! I gave you my power, thinking you could handle it, but you couldn't! You were just a weak nobody!"

"W...what abou-"

"The others weren't nearly as powerful against the boy!" he spat at you, knowing your thoughts before you voiced them. "You had MY powers, and you used them as if they were a TOY!"

The loss of air was starting to get to you. Deciding you weren't about to let him have the pleasure of killing you this way, you snaked your hand around your waist, pulling out one of your swords and gaining the energy to knock him away for a quick second while you screamed as loud as your lungs would allow:

"DEMMYYX-!"

A hand covered your mouth as the men in white had returned, Xemnas now back on his feet. You were almost certain the other teen had heard you, seen as how you weren't that far from the main room...AND the door was open.

Xemnas took you by the hair and threw you across the room into a large, metallic machine. The crash set your vision swimming and you turned your head to spit out some of the blood that came up your throat.

The men grabbed your arms and brought you up to your feet, Xemnas standing in front of you. He suddenly had your head in a painful, vise-like grip.

"You know," he said, "you must want to die real fast."

You unexpectedly spit in face.

Bad move.

He roared dangerously, slapping you across the face and nearly out of the men's grip. He quickly grabbed a nearby sword and gripped you again, his breath hot against your face. "I'm going to enjoy watching you die, worthless wretch."

But as he brought the sword back and plunged forward, the movement stopped, the metal cold and hard against your skin.

Xemnas was surrounded by...figures. Odd transparent figures that had appeared out of nowhere and knocked him against the wall, trapping him there.

Well, what'da ya know.  
He came.

His breathing was shallow as he ran towards you, fiercely knocking out the men holding you in place. You slid to the floor, your breath slowing as he looked over you and you found yourself clutching your stomach.

He removed your hand and couldn't help but make a slightly disgusted noise.  
You looked down to find your hand covered in your own blood and fluids.

So the blade had gone in.  
Deeply, by the looks of it.

It was a wonder why it no longer hurt.

You were falling rapidly into a dazed and near unconscious state now, Demyx speaking in almost babbled sentences.

It was then when you realized they were actually well-formed sentences. Your mind simply wasn't working.

"Hang on just a bit longer," he pleaded desperately. "I'll help you, just hold on."

"What's wrong?" you choked out, unaware of the seriousness of your condition.

He was fading in and out...

He was gripping your shoulders lightly, though you felt nothing, "Oh, God." he said, seeing that your stomach acid had stained the surrounding skin. He snatched up the coat of those damned men, ripping it apart and attempting to stop the blood flow by bandaging your abdomen. "T-there," he stated uncertainly, giving a little insane laugh. "You'll be fine, see?" Light tears had formed at the corners of his eyes and he tried to blink them away rapidly.

_ Then why are you crying? _ you tried to ask, the words not escaping your lips. _ I'm fine...I'm fine, it- _ "...doesn't even...h-hurt anymore..."

You raised a shaky hand to his face, your thumb lightly wiping at the stray fluid falling from his eyes. It was then when you noticed that you had choked up some of the phlegm that had been stuck in your throat. _ See? _ you thought. _ Just phlegm...nothing, really. _

You felt yourself falling as his hand rested on the back of your neck, lowering you to the ground, one of those hot tears falling onto your cheek.

You were about to ask why he was still crying and tell him that you were going to be fine-

When his lips suddenly met yours.

And the comment died in your mouth. Your eyes shutting, you savored the feel of him, soft and gentle...caring...  
Savored the taste of him as he slid his tongue across yours, mixed with the metallic tastes of blood and salt. When he'd entered your mouth, you didn't know...

But you didn't care.

His hand in your hair, your grip on his sleeve slackened as your felt yourself sink away from the scene.

Though the feeling of your tongues together...  
His taste...  
His unexpected love...  
That stayed.

Just as your words had died to his lips...  
So did you.

You felt yourself sinking even still, watching as he fell helplessly onto your lifeless body.

You just waited for that moment.

The moment where you'd lose all train of thought.  
The moment where your lost soul would find it's other half and two combined.  
The moment when your nonexistent heart would mend and melt into the real one of your other.

The moment when you would cease to be alive...  
And once again become the shadow of yourself-

Just a Shadow.  
-and nothing more. 


End file.
